ComScore, a leader in market research on mobile devices, publishes data on smartphone market share by device maker on a three-month basis. The results offer some interesting perspective, as they are one-month out of alignment with calendar quarters -- the window most other market research firms deliver their data on.

Throughout 2011, comScore reported that everything looked great for Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android, which was surging ahead [1][2][3], at nearly every other smartphone players' expense.

Looking ahead to 2012, the biggest question is whether Apple will be able to keep accelerating its growth to the point where it once more becomes a serious threat to Android. Despite its strong quarter, Apple's iPhones are still outnumbered by Android devices 3-to-2 in the U.S. market.

In terms of overall mobile device sales (including feature phones), Apple was the only OEM in the top five to post a gain.

However, that figure is a bit deceptive as Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd.'s (KS:005930) 0.1 percent dip or Google's almost-subsidiary Motorola Mobility's larger 0.4 decline, are arguably a healthy sign, in that -- combined with the overall large Android growth -- they represent a customer migration to feature phones. As it takes several feature phones to equal the profits of a single smartphone, these numbers ultimately look promising for Samsung and Motorola.

But they're also very good for Apple, who not only grew fast, but also slightly grew its OEM market share. That represents that some feature phone ditchers are jumping ship to Apple for their first smartphone. And considering Apple as much as an order of magnitude more profits per-device than Android phonemakers, it's evident why Apple is sustaining its position as the world's most profitable electronics company.

Word came this week that Apple and top Android phonemakers may be close to a licensing truce, ending hundreds of global lawsuits. The end to that distraction should allow the phonemakers to refocus on their top objective -- market competition.

quote: Another thing about Andriods success is how pushy sales people at cell stores are about people getting an Andriod phone.[...]I have a friend of mine that works in a cell store and I asked him about it and he said they always push people to Andriod.

The unequal treatment you're seeing isn't solved by carriers pushing the iPhone as much as they do Android phones. It's solved by either increasing the price of the phone by several hundred dollars (better reflecting its true cost to carriers), or by Apple reducing the price of the iPhone by several hundred dollars (cutting their profit).

In essence, what's going on is the opposite of what you're implying. Part of the iPhone's success can be attributed to carriers giving preferential price treatment to the iPhone over Android phones - selling iPhones to customers at a bigger markdown than they do Android phones.